Currently, devices for removing a hard center from a soft food item are well-known. Typically, the hard center is a seed, referred to as a pit, and the soft food item may be a variety of foods, such as a cherry or an olive. The food typically has a relatively tough exterior of skin that surrounds a somewhat softer flesh, and the pit is located in the approximate center of the flesh portion. For a variety of reasons, it is desired to simply and quickly remove the pit from the flesh prior to consumption.
It is particularly desirable to remove the pit while maintaining the food item in its basic shape. That is, cherries may be used as a drink garnish, as part of a salad, or in a fruit pie or cake. For each of these, it is desired that the cherry be whole, with the exception of the removed pit. Moreover, due to the nature of the devices used to remove the pits, it is often easiest to remove the pit while minimizing the damage to the rest of the food item.
These devices are referred to as pitters, and food items from which the pit has been removed are referred to as pitted, the process of removal being known as pitting. In a basic form, a pitter includes a receptacle or holding portion for supporting the food item prior to pitting. A second portion, often in the form of an elongated plunger, is driven from a first side of the food item, through a first side portion of the skin, and through the flesh until the plunger contacts the pit. The plunger is then driven further so that the pit is forced through flesh on the opposite side from the plunger and through the skin portion on a second skin side portion opposite from the first skin side portion.
Because the food item may be covered with the somewhat tough skin, and the relatively large pit is forced through the skin from the inside, it is not uncommon for a splatter to occur as the pit exits the food item. That is, the faster the pitting operation, the more force present when the pit bursts through the second skin side portion. As the pit bursts through, it is common for debris, such as juice from the food item, as well as small particles of the soft flesh or the skin, to be projected from the food item.
Some attempts have been made to control the amount and direction of the splatter, and to control the direction of the ejected or expelled pit. While some of these attempts include using a splatter shield, such have suffered from not being removable and storable.
Accordingly, there has been a need for an improved device for removing a hard center or pit from a soft food item.